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Hi, everybody. Things are great and I'm happy to be back on Modsquad. I have a new frame company called Fizix, and we have designed and engineered a completely new aluminum frame that will be Everything that Sprungs were plus Everything that was missing. Website coming soon. Pics as soon as I can get them up. WooHoo!

I've been skating with the R1 for five games and after an initial adjustment period, I'm very happy. I think there could be improvements and I'm a tiny bit concerned about long-term wear, but at this point I'd recommend the R1. FZ-0, 6.5ee. I was properly fitted (and the mounted the frame) at Coast to Coast Hockey Shop in Vancouver and was shocked to learn: A- I was previously in boots 1.5 sizes too big; B- I have a wide forefoot but a narrow heel; and C- my left foot is a full size bigger than my right. So apart from getting used to a new frame, I'm extremely very extra super happy with the boots themselves. I've been skating for over twenty years and these are the best skates have ever felt. They're almost like an extension of my body rather than silly wheeled doodads I'm strapping on my feet for an hour or two. The skating experience took a little bit of time to figure out. For context, my sprungs were severely worn down, the arms for the front two wheels especially so. Normally the tops are squared off and fit into the base snuggly but mine had worn into wedge shapes so the effect was much less "springy" and much more tick-tocky. I could lean forward and the front two wheels stayed on the ground while the back two wheels lifted off. Which felt great sometimes but also felt extremely fragile. I was a very self-aware skater on my old skates, conscious of the feeling that the sprungs could explode at any time. Which isn't great. Anyway, I was accustomed to an extreme amount of movement and even though I was on the h5-t8, " the most movement" insert, I wanted more, especially from the toe. The heel movement felt ok, definitely better than flat frames, but I couldn't really dig in with my toes the way I could on sprungs. After three games, I loosened the bushing bolt by a half turn and there was much more play in the frame. At this point the movement took a bit of getting used to and I almost lost it in the warm up but during the game, I was digging in with my toes much better and I felt much sharper in the turns. Forward to backward transitions were quick and I was particularly impressed with my backwards acceleration. Stopping, for whatever reason, didn't feel as sharp. In my sprungs I could reliably get the wheels to make the "BEEERRRRRBBBB" noise when stopping but it's not as strong with the marsblades. I have this vague idea that in the sprungs I was better able to roll my weight, so to speak, from toe to heel so when I stopped, I could better modulate weight placement over the wheels. Maybe this is nonsense, maybe I'll get used to the marsblades and figure it out there too. Overall, I felt a bit quicker than with sprungs and apart from the stopping, didn't lose anything. Also, there's something to be said for the increased confidence that my skates weren't going to blow up... these are well made pieces of kit. As a caveat, I'm not a big guy at 66kg and in terms of how body weight affects the movement and stability, I have no idea. Bigger guys may get more movement than I do. The looser bushing bolt didn't feel weak or unstable but I'm small. I've mentioned sprungs wearing out a few times so let's look at wear for the marsblades. Look at that dust! We've been playing on a covered outdoor rink with smooth concrete, maybe one grade below polished. As you can see, there's significant wear on the anodization. There's some deep scratches and wear going on but nothing too worrying. This isn't unexpected in any way, moving parts with dust and dirt will grind down (my sprungs certainly did) I've been diligent about taking apart and cleaning everything... If you're not familiar this is the base of the frame and the rocker insert goes on top of this, with the metal frame following. This is the typical amount and type of dust that I get after a game, before I clean it. If you look closely at the bolt thing, there's some rust starting to develop at the base. I've started to use an old toothbrush to scrub around it rather than letting water clear everything away but I don't like the rust. There's a bit of wear on the sides (matching where the metal part is worn but again, nothing unexpected or too concerning. The plastic insert, likewise, seems ok. This is the metal frame facing side and it's a bit rougher, as if the movement between the insert and the frame are embedding grains of dust into the insert. Wear wise, I'm a bit concerned about the bolt rusting and time will tell about the metal frame... could it wear down so much that there's noticeable side-to-side play between the metal frame and the base? I'd feel better if I could replace individual parts of the frame setup easily or if my local shop could service them in some way. I went through three sprung set ups and they each lasted me about two years skating outdoors on dusty/gritty and sometimes muddy surfaces. If I can get that out of marsblades, I'd be satisfied. I'd be happier if it was longer but we will see how that goes.